Some Albertans left frustrated, Health Link overwhelmed as COVID-19 shots open up to general public

Some Albertans struggled to book COVID-19 shots when the province’s fall vaccination campaign opened to the general public on Monday.

By late afternoon, Health Link was inundated with more than 10,000 calls related to the COVID vaccine alone and a spokesperson for Primary Care Alberta confirmed the provincial health information phone line was experiencing extremely high call volumes.

Booking for phase one of the province’s COVID-19 vaccination program, which offers free shots to certain high-risk groups, began on Sept. 29. Those groups include people with underlying medical conditions, people living in care homes, health-care workers, seniors receiving the Alberta Seniors Benefit and people experiencing homelessness.

Phase two, which offers the COVID vaccine to all other Albertans aged six months and older for a $100 fee, began on Monday. Flu shots, which continue to be free, also became available to the general public.

Vaccination campaign has started in the province Facing constant criticism from doctors and scientists For most people to opt to charge for the COVID vaccine.

“It feels like it’s a complete mess,” said Elizabeth Smith, a senior who lives in Edmonton.

Already frustrated that not all seniors have been included in the high-risk groups eligible for publicly funded COVID vaccines, she tried to book her vaccine through the provincial online portal as soon as she became eligible on Monday.

However, she could not find any available appointments. So she called Health Link and after waiting on the phone, she got a message that no one was available to help and the call ended.

“How dare you try to get vaccinated for me? This is a sensible, cost-effective way to protect our health care system and keep people like me healthy,” Smyth said.

Barriers for parents

Airdrie mother Cyrena Raymond-Foutex also faced problems when she tried to book an appointment for herself and her four-year-old son first thing on Monday morning.

According to the provincial government’s website, appointments for children under 12 cannot be booked online and must be booked through Health Link.

But Raymond-Fauteux called several times and could not be reached.

“I think they’ve made it a barrier to getting these vaccines. I think they’re not making it a priority,” he said.

She is particularly concerned that parents are having trouble booking appointments for their children and believes they should have been eligible sooner.

“It’s hard to wait. It’s hard to understand that we have to pay for this. And it’s disappointing that they didn’t anticipate the increase in calls and didn’t have a plan for it,” he said.

Thousands of people call Health Link

In a statement emailed to CBC News, Primary Care Alberta said it is experiencing excessive call volume due to both the fall vaccination campaign and the COVID-19 pandemic. avian influenza,

By Monday afternoon, Health Link had received 10,346 calls regarding COVID-19 vaccination, and 1,458 calls for flu vaccine.

“Albertans are encouraged to try calling later or book their fall vaccination appointment online primecarealberta.ca/immunize” spokeswoman Nicole Merrifield said.

“Health Link has brought in all available staff and expanded hours to increase its ability to respond to Albertans. Expanded staff coverage is scheduled for the remainder of the week and will continue as needed.”

Merrifield said calls are taking longer during this phase of the rollout because there are more family bookings. He said group bookings are no longer available online and must be booked individually.

Merrifield was not aware of any problems with the online booking system beyond volume.

“Primary Care Alberta continues to add appointments to our busiest public health clinics to meet the demand for vaccination bookings,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor activity and adjust staffing levels at both Health Link 811 and public health clinics as we are able.”

Raymond-Foutex, meanwhile, said she’s glad to hear that thousands of Albertans are calling and trying to book.

“I think it speaks to the people of Alberta as a whole, We are interested in vaccination and we would like to show the government … that they need to make it a priority (and) they should remove barriers like cost,” he said.

“Making it a difficult process to book your vaccine is just a whole extra layer.”